Looking Back....

Since the Ice Storm kept me from blogging since December 12th, I have decided to use the next few days to reflect upon our holiday season (the rollercoaster ride that it was). So let's start at the very beginning....the storm itself :)

The power went out just before midnight on Thursday, December 11th. My biggest fear was that a tree would come through our house. We were up all night listening to the crazy sounds outside. I also worried that Z would wake up freezing and get sick (a bad night for thin jammies!!!).

The next morning S tried to get out to explore but most of the roads were closed…..he decided to stay home from work. My mother and sister both lost power as well but our plan was to go north to my moms anyway….she has a gas fireplace. Our cable and phone lines were ripped from our house and a tree came with in inches of Z’s sandbox but no major damage.....we were very lucky!!!

We spent Friday huddled around mom’s fireplace. My sister called every hotel in our state and there were no rooms! S booked us at a hotel in the state next door (about 2 ½ hours away). We had a birthday party there on Saturday and figured we would just go up early. My sister decided to stay at Noni’s retirement home and my mom and dad decided to tough it out.

When we arrived at our hotel it was very dark. Come to find out their power had been out for over 24 hours!!!! The Marriot reservation line let us book a room that was unable to be used and by the time we got to our destination….there was not a single room in the city! I was too tired and angry to cry! I just wanted a shower!!!! My friend S's house was too small for three more guests so she got on the phone and started calling every B and B in the area. Luckily she found the last two rooms in the city (one for us and one for her father in-law flying in from Seattle). The only catch was that they do not allow children under 12! After hearing our story, they agreed to let us stay if Z promised to be quiet. Were they kidding??? He also was not allowed to come to breakfast.

That night Z did not go to sleep until 11pm!!! He cried when we put him in his crib at 9PM and so he came into bed with us. He then started singing very loudly (this is how he puts himself to sleep). We tried so hard to get him to be quiet but he has no volume switch. I was so afraid we were going to be asked to leave!!! S and I are were on edge the entire night and did not get much sleep. On top of that… the B and B turned off the heat at 10pm and it was freezing. We should have saved the money and stayed in our own cold house! It was a long night.

Z was up at 6:45 singing once again! He then got out of his bed and started jumping and dancing all around. The person below us must have been thrilled. We both showered and rushed out of there!

We decided to make the most of our situation and do a little exploring. We had a really fun day. The b-day party was great and Z did well (despite being so tired). We then went back to my mom's house...she got her power back on during the day on Saturday. S planned to spend the evening at our house emptying the pipes in our heating system. It was suppose to be 4 degrees on that Saturday night!

Luckily when S got home he called with good news....we had our power back! We were one of the very few houses in our town with power but because we are on the grid with the fire and police stations…we got it back! Unfortunately for Z, 2 out of 3 of our fish froze to death. The house was too cold to return to at that point so we slept at my moms. The next day we took Z on the Polar Express :) He LOVED it!!!! We took Park the Elf with us too....what a treat!

Most of my friends did not get their power back for 8 1/2 days! Many of those friends were just down the street from me. We were so lucky to have had only a day and a half of craziness!
Our cable and internet came back on this past week (almost a month later).....so we are up and running once again!